


Winter Wonders

by StarshipHufflebadger



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Christmas, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Leonard McCoy - Freeform, M/M, Other, Reader Insert, Winter, new year's, reader - Freeform, world's best doctor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 21:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11540943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarshipHufflebadger/pseuds/StarshipHufflebadger
Summary: This is a two-part story, each part of which was originally posted to tumblr separately.  "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and "A New Year's Gift".  Leonard and Reader end up going for shore leave in the same town and spend a bit of time together on the way there and back.  Fluffy shenanigans ensue.





	1. Walking in a Winter Wonderland

The shuttle lands right around dinner time back at Starfleet.  You’re exhausted and hungry, but thrilled to be back on the ground again after months on the Academy’s space station.   After wishing some of your fellow cadets well, you hurry off to the dorms to collect your stuff.  You’re about to head home for two weeks leave, just before Christmas, and you can’t wait to see your family again.   You change into a clean, unwrinkled uniform, close your Starfleet-issued travelling case and head down to the cafeteria for a bite to eat before you leave.

You realize that you’re running out of time before you train leaves and so you forgo eating and hurry to the station. You buy a falafel wrap from a vendor outside the station and stash it in the top of your bag, then hurry off to get your seat.  
  
You stow your luggage and flop into a seat, exhausted from training so hard for months, and from the trip back to earth today. It’s an adjustment to be back on firm ground again, and you yawn as you settle into your seat amidst other Starfleet cadets and some officers filing onto the train.   You close your eyes, and are just contemplating actually trying to sleep when a voice interrupts your thoughts.  
  
“Mind if I sit here?”   
  
You look up to see a senior cadet, one of the medical graduates, looking down at you with a small smile.  You grin upon seeing him, and pretend to be thinking about it.  
  
“Hm, I’m not sure.  Someone else may want that seat, Leonard…” you say teasingly, though you’re very happy to see him.  It’s been a while since the two of you have had time to talk, and you’ve missed him.

He narrows his eyes slightly, though his smile is still in place, and you know he knows that you are kidding.  

“Well, we can’t all get what we want,” he says, tossing his small travelling case into the luggage rack above your heads and drops into the seat next to you, holding a book in his lap.  
  
“How’ve you been?” you ask him, smiling, your tone normal now.  He shrugs, running a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in places.  
  
“Busy.  Med bay training is intense.   I may already be a doctor, but there’s a hell of a lot to learn about bein’ a space doctor,” he says, his voice sounding both amused and tired.  You laugh softly, nodding in sympathy.   “How about you?  How’s communications treatin’ ya?” He asks you, sounding genuinely interested.

You smile and tell him a little bit about your training, mentioning how you’re in the top three of your class, though you’re always outshined by a girl who seems to eat, sleep and breathe alien languages.  You smile ruefully as he chuckles, patting your knee in an understanding sort of way. He asks you a few questions about your training that you’re eager to answer, now oblivious to the people milling about, looking for seats, as the conversation absorbs you.  
  
The train begins to move and you spend an amiable hour or so chatting with him before your grumbling stomach reminds you of the wrap you had stashed in your suitcase.  Much to your dismay, Leonard hears the rumble and smiles at you, then flags down a passing server and orders you a sandwich and a coffee before you can protest that you brought your own food.  After ordering the same for himself, he waves away your protests.  

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” he tells you, swiping his card as the server returns with your food.   The coffee is rich and delicious and the chicken sandwich, though a bit on the spicy side, tastes great.

“Thank you,” you tell him, as your stomach gratefully accepts the offering and you feel considerably more relaxed now that you’re not starving.  He smiles and nods, finishing up his own food, before asking you where you’re heading.  
  
“Home, to see family.  You?”  He smiles slightly, draining the last of his coffee before answering.  
  
“Oh, just to visit some friends,” he says, shifting the book still sitting on his lap, which you notice he hasn’t touched since sitting down beside you, though he’d obviously initially intended to read it on this journey.  You realize that you’re both headed to the same town, and he’s happy to hear that the friend he’s staying with lives only a kilometre away from your family.  
  
Another hour or so passes and you both start drifting off to sleep as the train rocks rhythmically and the darkness outside makes the cabin dim.  A while later you jolt awake when the train slows to a stop, and you realize that in your sleep, you have tilted sideways and are leaning on Leonard’s arm.  You sit up quickly, hoping that he is sleeping too and hasn’t noticed, but to your embarrassment, he is wide awake.  He is smiling at you, and your cheeks flush as the implication sinks in that he had willingly let you sleep, leaning on his arm.    
  
“You’re so cute when you’re asleep,” he says quietly, as the train makes a full stop and a whistle blows, signalling the arrival at their destination.  You feel your cheeks flushing deeper as he smiles at you and gets up, pulling down both of your suitcases and handing you yours.  

You head off of the train and into the station together, where you immediately get a message on your comm, saying that your ride has been delayed.  Sighing, you tell Leonard, who frowns but then brightens as he seems to think of something.  
  
“Why don’t we go by foot? It’s really not that far… I’ll walk you home,” he says, and you feel your heart flutter in response.  Though you’re still exhausted, you readily accept his offer, and the two of you leave the station and begin heading up the main street.   There is snow on the ground all around you, though the sidewalk is mostly cleared.   Your uniform is warm and snug, though you shiver slightly as a cold breeze drifts by, making goosebumps pop up on your arms.  
  
“Let’s go this way,” he says, directing you down a quiet side street.  Just as you turn onto the street, snowflakes begin to flutter down.  Within minutes, huge, fat flakes are drifting downwards, covering everything in sight in a shimmering layer of fresh snow, including both of you.  You look around in wonder as the scene before you radiates beauty and comfort at the same time, the lazy flakes coming down steadily around you.  The sounds around you seem dimmed, your laughter strangely muffled by the fluffy snow falling around you.

You stop walking for a moment as he pauses to brush snow out of his hair and off of his shoulders, and you take his moment of distraction to slip a few steps away and make a snowball.  When he turns to look where you’ve gone, you launch it at him, hitting him squarely in the chest.  His face briefly registers surprise before he grins in wicked sort of way and bends, easily gathering snow and forming a ball in his hands.  You giggle and run for it, but he has good aim and hits you right in the back of the head.  You let out a soft shriek as the snowball explodes on contact, snow cascading into the collar of your uniform, making you shiver violently as it immediately begins to melt on your warm skin.

You begin a furious snowball exchange with him, making the snowballs as fast as you can while getting pummelled by his projectile snow missiles.  He’s faster than you at forming them and soon you’re covered in snow, soaked, but laughing. Your last snowball hits him right in the face and he lets out a yelp, wiping his face as you grin at him.  He’s drenched too, his styled hair now damp and limp, his red uniform spotted with wet patches and white snow still clinging to him.  You’re sure you look even worse for wear; you can feel the damp, cold material sticking to your skin, and your hair wilting, but you don’t care.   Your hands are frigid and stiff with the cold, but he comes over to you and pulls you close to his chest, putting your hands in his pockets.  He winces slightly as your icy hands settle in against his warm legs, but he stays still and you sigh with relief as your fingers start to get some feeling back in them. Your heart is fluttering from the closeness, and you realize that he’s looking at you with affection.  
  
“I haven’t had a snowball fight since I was a little kid,” he says reminiscently, chuckling.  “That was fun.”  You smile and agree, and eventually you reluctantly remove your hands from his pockets, thanking him for warming you up.  He smiles and you both retrieve your suitcases from nearby, heading back the way you originally were headed.   He reaches out after a moment and takes your hand without a word, and it’s all you can do to make a small squeak of happiness.  His hands are also cold from handling the snow, but you don’t care; you feel as though the sun is shining directly on you at the moment, with the giddiness of being allowed to hold his hand filling you.  

Far too quickly you end up nearing your family home, glowing softly into the snowy night.  Leonard realizes that this must be the place and he squints at the numbers to make sure it’s the same address that you told him earlier on the train.  
  
“Well, I guess this is goodbye for now,” he said, his voice a bit softer than usual.  “Thanks for making the trip here better than I was expecting.”   You smile, glad your face is already flushed from the cold, and nod.  
  
“Same to you, “ you reply, starting to shiver from the chill of your damp clothes.  “Thanks again for the food.”

“No problem,” he replies.  “Maybe one day soon I could take you for an actual meal?  When we have a break together, off campus.  I think we’re both scheduled to be on the ground for a few months, right?” he asks you, his voice hopeful.  
  
You pause for a moment, surprised and gleeful as excitement courses through your body.  You swallow and smile up at him, nodding.  
  
“That’s right, I’m scheduled on-planet for at least 3 months.  I’d love to go out with you sometime, Leonard.”  You’re amazed that you sound so calm and confident, while inside you’re screaming and flailing with joy.

“Great,” he says, an adorable grin lighting up his face.  “Well, have a good holiday.”

Without warning, he reaches out and puts his hands on either side of your neck, making you shiver from the contact. He leans in and gives you a short, but very sweet and gentle kiss as your hands automatically move upwards and rest on his chest.  He pulls away but remains close for a moment, looking down at you, watching your reaction.

“Y-you too,” you manage, your voice cracking slightly from the surprise and delight of the unexpected kiss.  
  
He pulls away after a moment, and, smiling in satisfaction, gives you a playful salute, which you return, also smiling, your heart pounding.

  
“I’ll pick you up in two weeks when we head back,” he tells you, trailing one finger along your cheek and jawline, then picking up the handle to his suitcase.   He walks away without looking back, though you notice there’s  more of a spring to his step now, despite the lateness of the hour and how tired you both must be.  Feeling giddy, you head towards the door of your family’s home, already imagining that future date and basking in the tingly feeling his kiss had left on your lips.


	2. A New Year's Gift

            Two weeks have passed and you’ve had an amazing time with your family.  Everyone got along really well, for once, and you’d done a lot of fun things. You’d gone shopping at the cute little market that sprang up every Christmas time, finding a lot of wonderful handmade things for your friends back at Starfleet.  You’d gone sledding and skating with your younger siblings, and the large family dinners had been delicious.   Part of you never wanted to leave this warm, loving atmosphere for the hard work waiting for you back at Starfleet, but the other part of you loved your schoolwork and training and couldn’t wait to get back.  Besides, a certain someone was going to pick you up to bring you back to Starfleet, and it gave you a little shiver of excitement every time you thought about it.

             Finally it’s time to go.  You hug everyone goodbye, taking pictures with your siblings as they crowd around you in your uniform.  Your mom cries, but you reassure her you’ll be back as soon as you can.   At exactly six o’clock, there’s a firm knock on the door, and your heart leaps into your chest.  It’s him!  He’s here! You force yourself to remain calm as you pull on your uniform jacket, zip up your suitcase after your little brother shoves some last minute thing into it, and turn to face the door as your mother goes to open it.  
  
             “Hello, ma’am,” comes Leonard’s polite voice from behind the door. “I’m here to pick up Y/N.”

             “I’m here!” you call, tugging your suitcase along behind you and going to the door before your mother can invite him in.  It’s belatedly occurred to you that you should have warned the family someone was coming to get you;  now you know your family is going to think you were hiding a boyfriend.  
  


             “You look wonderful,” Leonard says with a smile as you appear in the doorway.  Sighing inwardly, as this will only cement the thought in your family’s mind that Leonard is your boyfriend, you thank him and turn to hug your mother goodbye.   Her eyebrow is raised and she looks both amused and offended that you never told her about this handsome man, and you shoot her a silencing look.  She thankfully seems to get the hint, though you know you will have to put up with multiple messages from her later.  You hug her and wave goodbye to everyone else, and then you’re outside alone with Leonard, tugging your heavy suitcase along with you. The streetlamps cast a golden glow and fat, fluffy snowflakes float around you again, just in time for your second walk with him.

             “How was your holiday?” he asks as you begin to walk along the street.    You look at him, smiling, open your mouth to speak, and promptly catch your foot on a crack in the slippery sidewalk and begin to fall.

             You yelp as you drop the handle of your suitcase and tumble forwards.  You can hear and sense him lunging after you but you’re falling too fast and you hit the ground hard, a loud grunt escaping you as your chest impacts the icy pavement. You groan as he crouches beside you, and when you reluctantly look up at his face, he looks concerned and amused.

  
             “That good, huh?” he teases as you flip over so you’re sitting on your rear end, brushing snow and ice off of the front of your jacket.  “You okay?”

             “Yeah,” you say, your voice a bit small.  Your cheeks are flushed with embarrassment and you feel mortified.  How stupid you must have looked, flailing wildly as you flew through the air and belly flopped onto the sidewalk!

             He holds out his hand for you to take and helps you stand. You avoid looking at him as you finish brushing yourself off and retrieve your suitcase.  He obviously notices the lack of eye contact and you see his gloved hand approaching you, then feel the softness of the fabric as he hooks his forefinger under your chin and tilts your head up, making you look at him.

             “Don’t be embarrassed,” he tells you, his voice reassuring.  “I’ll tell you something that might make you feel a little better… in my first year as a cadet, I tripped over the edge of a tire that was part of an obstacle course in the first year physical training class.”    

You remember the class vividly, as you’d just completed it the previous semester, and you remember how tough that particular course was.  You can picture him, falling as he tries to run through the tire section, bouncing off the hard rubber surfaces as he hit them.  You nod and cringe slightly, wondering how this is supposed to make you feel better;  it sounded like it had hurt, which made you feel bad for him, not amused.  He seems to sense what you’re thinking, because he lets out a soft, rueful laugh and shakes his head.

“Oh, it didn’t hurt much, because it was the very last line of tires and I fell face first… into the mud pit.  You know the one we’re supposed to get to  _after_  the tires, and swing across on a rope?  Yeah, face first.” He sighs and shakes his head, grinning a bit embarrassedly and continuing on.  “I was caked in mud from my head to about my knees, and everyone thought it was the funniest thing they’d ever seen.  Of course the instructor made me finish the course as I was, so I ran the rest of it half-blind, trying to clear the mud from my eyes.”

Despite feeling extraordinarily bad for him and letting out a sympathetic groan, you do giggle a little at the mental image, and he smiles down at you.

“I was really mad about it for the longest time,” he admits, “but after a while I realized just how ridiculous I must have looked and it made me laugh.”   You smile at him, feeling a lot better (at least you didn’t have mud all over your face), and nod.  He smiles back and leans down to kiss you, just a soft press of his lips to yours, and you feel tingles spreading all through your body.   He pulls away fairly quickly and you set off once more your mind buzzing from the little kiss.  

Feeling a better about your fall now, you begin to tell him about your holiday, including a bit more about your family and the activities you’d done.  

“Oh, and we went to my favourite craft market, and… well, I got you something,” you say, excitement flooding through you.  “It’s just a silly little thing, but I thought of you immediately.”

“I bet I’ll love it,” he tells you, grinning.  “As it so happens, I got you a little somethin’ too.”   Your mouth falls open slightly in surprise, but then you beam back at him, touched that he thought of you and extremely excited to know what he got you.    “Let’s wait till we get to the train to open them; it’s getting wetter out here,” he says, gesturing at the snow, which was indeed falling thicker every moment.

By the time the two of you make it to the train station, you’re absolutely covered in snow, your uniforms damp and your suitcases iced with a layer of white. You shake out your hair as you get inside and he laughs as snow and droplets of water go flying.  You grin at him, threading fingers through your hair to make it lie somewhat straight again, but it has gone all wavy from the dampness.  He seems to like it, though, and is about to comment on it when an announcement comes over the speaker system, telling everyone milling about that the train back to San Francisco would be delayed by at least half an hour.  You both groan, then sigh simultaneously.  You look at each other and burst out laughing at the twin reactions.  You decide to stow your luggage on the train, finding your preferred seats together and tossing your cases up into the luggage rack, so you don’t have to drag them with you.  Each of you retrieves your gift for the other, and you leave the train again.   You find a table behind a floor-to-ceiling bank of windows, so you can watch the snow without being cold.  You’re already starting to shiver a bit from the dampness seeping through your clothes, but you ignore it, your gaze fixed on him.

“Shall we exchange, then?” he asks, and you nod eagerly, excited both to see what he got you, and to see if he liked what you got for him.    He hands you a somewhat long, mostly flat rectangular package.  It’s wrapped in a plain but shimmery blue paper with a simple silver ribbon tied around it, and you smile to see that he went to the trouble of curling the ends of the ribbon for you.   You hand over your gift for him; a cube shaped box that you’ve wrapped in light blue paper that has reindeer all over it, with a big red bow on the top of the package.

“This is so pretty!” you say, gently pulling on the ribbons and smiling as they bounce back.

“I like this, too,” he says, examining the reindeer paper.  “Very festive.  You go first,” he says, gesturing at his gift.  You open your mouth to protest, but he holds up a hand.  “No, I insist!” he says firmly, so you laugh and nod, looking down at the gift.

             You tug harder on the ribbons now until the little bow gives way under the pressure, pulling the silvery strip away from the present.  You hesitate for a moment before you open it; the paper is so pretty, and you’re savouring the moment of anticipation. You can’t wait any longer though and you eagerly tear into the paper, wedging your finger into one of the folded parts at the bottom and ripping.

             A moment later you’ve revealed a long, slender box with a transparent lid, and you can see a feather inside.  Slightly confused, you look closer and realize it’s an old fashioned quill, complete with a small ink pot.   The metal point of the quill is a shiny silver and the feather is brown and fluffy, but you can see some white and blue marks within it as well, beautifully highlighting it. You look down, and see that the flat, rectangular part of the gift is some kind of book, bound in a soft, dark, forest green leather.  You caress the front page for a moment; it’s covered with an intricate design of leaves, gently pressed into the surface of the leather.   You reach out and gently open the cover, turn a few pages;  it’s completely blank.

             “A journal,” he says, and you look up to see him watching you. “You told me one time that you love writing short stories, and with a pen and paper… so I figured this was just the kind of thing you’d like.”

             You’re speechless for a moment, looking down at the gift. You can’t even put into words how touched you are at the thoughtfulness of it.  You don’t even remember telling him you liked to write, and it is suddenly very apparent to you that he pays a good deal of attention to what you tell him, which makes your heart skip a beat.  The journal is beautiful, with its soft leather and the gorgeous pattern, the spine smooth and firm.  It looks like it’s been bound by hand, which is a rare talent at this point in time, with nearly everything on earth made by computers and robots.  The quill is beautiful too, looking like it had been taken right out of the home of some scholar who lived during the 1800’s.

             “Leonard, I-” you begin, shaking your head slightly, your words faltering.  “They’re absolutely beautiful.  I don’t know what to say…”

             “You don’t have to say anything,” he says, smiling warmly.  “I’m just glad you like them!”

             “I  _love_ them,” you say emphatically, gently flipping through the pages of the journal. “I don’t think I’ve ever owned anything so lovely.  Thank you.”   You reach out and squeeze his hand, smiling as he squeezes back.  You know that you’re a bit flushed now but you feel like you’re glowing from the inside out with happiness.  

             “Alright, my turn then?” he says after a moment, letting go of your hand and pulling your wrapped present towards him.  You feel a bit of the glow fading: your present is so silly compared to the one he got you, now you’re worried that he might not like it.   It’s too late to say anything, though, as he’s finished ripping off the paper.  He grins at you and sticks the bow to his chest, where it blends well with the uniform, making you giggle.  

             Leonard lifts the lid off the box and reaches inside, pulling out a somewhat lumpy package that you’d carefully wrapped in tissue paper so it wouldn’t break.  He unwraps the tissue and stares at what rolls out into his hand for a long moment. It’s a light blue, hand crafted mug, with “World’s Best Doctor” painted on the side in large, bold, dark blue letters. You’d found it at one of the booths at the craft market you’d gone to over the break and had immediately thought of him when you’d seen it.  You’d been thinking it was a bit of a joke gift, not realizing he’d have gotten you a present at all, let alone something so thoughtful.    You bite your lower lip as you watch his reaction, cringing a little, hoping that it would go over well.   Suddenly, he beams at you, and you feel the tension that had been building in your stomach disappear.  

             “I love it!” he exclaims, examining it a bit closer.  “World’s best doctor.  Damn right!” He grins at you with a wink and you laugh, relieved. He’s clearly delighted with the gift, far more than you’d expected, and you’re relieved and incredibly happy.  He jumps up from his seat and you stand as well, smiling at him as he hurries over to you.  He wraps his arms around you and you melt into him against his chest, sighing contentedly as you listen to his heart thumping against your ear.  He squeezes you tight, prompting a tiny grunt of protest from you, then pulls away to arm’s length and looks down at you.

             “Thank you so much, Y/N, you’re very sweet,” he says, brushing a stray hair away from your eyes.  You smile up at him and shake your head.

             “Not nearly as sweet as you are, that journal is absolutely gorgeous, and the quill-” your words are cut off mid-sentence as he leans down and presses his lips to yours.  He pulls you closer again and your hands snake around behind him as one of his slips up into your hair, the other splayed in the middle of your back, holding you close.   The kiss deepens, and you get completely lost in his embrace as the world dissolves around you.  All that exists are you and him, with his firm embrace keeping you on your feet, his kiss shooting bolts of excitement and bliss through you.

             You kiss for many long moments before a wolf whistle shatters the dream-like embrace you’ve slipped into.  Leonard pulls away slightly and you look around, confused, to see a fellow cadet whose name you can’t quite remember walking past, grinning at the two of you and winking.  Chuckling, Leonard gives you another kiss, but very brief this time, and releases you, leaving you pining for his touch once more.

             “Ah, we should board now,” Leonard says after a moment as you stand there, swaying slightly on the spot, your mind still absorbed in that wonderful kiss.  You nod in agreement and gather your gift from him, clutching it protectively against your chest as you begin to walk towards the train.  Leonard disposes of the wrapping paper you’d both left behind and follows you, holding his new mug by the handle and showing it to everyone who glances at it.

             You sit down in your seats once you’re on the train again and laugh as Leonard continues to show the mug to people walking by: fellow cadets, Starfleet officers and workers of the train alike.  You carefully slip the journal and quill into the seat pocket in front of you so you can check your comm, as it’s been buzzing off and on for nearly the entire time since you’d left home.

             You sigh and shake your head  as you flip through the messages you’ve received;  six from your mother and several from other people in your family, demanding to know why they hadn’t heard about your new boyfriend, and why you hadn’t introduced him to the family when he’d come to collect you.

             “My whole family thinks we’re dating now,” you tell him ruefully, as he finally sets his new mug down on the tray table and looks over at you curiously, seeing you on your comm.  “Why’d you have to say I look wonderful at the door?” you ask him, teasingly, though you’re not sorry he said it;  it had made your heart flutter at the time, just as it was now at the memory.

             “Because you  _do_ look wonderful,” he replies in a matter-of-fact voice.  “Does it bother you that your family thinks we’re dating?” he asks after a moment, his voice playful.

             “Well, no,” you admit, grinning.  “It’s just a lot of explaining to do, that we’re not, actually…” you say, feeling a little embarrassed but amused all the same.  

             “Well…” he trails off, pondering for a moment, then he turns in his seat as the train begins to move forward, looking at you.   “How about we make it easier on you.  Let’s start dating,” he says, and his tone is serious but light, and there’s a small smile curling his lips.  You stare at him for a moment, a half-smile frozen on your face, as you try to process what he’s just said.    

             “Really?” you say, excitement starting to course through you at the very thought of the proposition.  Dating Leonard?  That would absolutely make your year… and the New Year was still a few hours off!

             “Really,” he laughs, reaching out for your hand and enveloping it in both of his.  “What do you say?”

             “Well, yeah! Of course!  I mean, yes!” you say, a bit too enthusiastically, blushing, but then grinning as he laughs softly.   He leans forward and gives you a quick kiss, but it’s difficult to maintain as the train starts gaining speed, so you content yourselves with settling back in your seats and leaning against him.  He puts an arm around your shoulders and tucks you as close as is possible with the arm of the seat wedged between you.   You eventually drift off to sleep from the motion and hum of the train, the feeling of his warm arm around your shoulders, and the great contentment that has filled you.

             A couple of hours later, the train pulls to a stop at the Starfleet Academy station and Leonard shakes you gently awake.  You gather your things, holding the journal and the box containing the quill to your chest again as you pull your suitcase with the other hand.  You’re following along behind Leonard, not really paying much attention as you head towards the Academy, sleepiness clouding your thoughts.

             People are suddenly shouting and you look around as your enter the very large grassy quad between a couple of the buildings.  There are cadets and officers everywhere, lots of shouting, music playing, and laughter.  You realize that it must be nearly midnight and you look up at the large clock on the side of the building to see that it says 11:59.  You unzip your bag and carefully stow your journal and quill inside, then look back at Leonard, who is smiling down at you.

             “We made it just in time!” he says loudly, so you can hear him over the shouting and the music.  You grin and lean against him as he raises an arm to invite you closer, and you watch the crowd getting more and more excited as the seconds pass.  Suddenly many people begin shouting the countdown.

             “Ten!  Nine! Eight!  Seven!  Six! Five!”

             You turn to Leonard so you’re facing him, looking up at his face.  “Thanks again for the wonderful gift,” you say, smiling up at him.

             “You’re welcome,” he replies, wrapping his arms around you. “Thank you, too.”

             “Four!  THREE! TWO!   **ONE!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!** ”

             “Happy New Year, Y/N,” Leonard says, then dips his head and kisses you deeply as fireworks explode in the background, lighting up the night with brilliant colours, even through your closed eyelids.  The deafening sounds of cheering and bad singing are completely muffled as you lose yourself in a magnificent end to an unexpectedly wonderful evening, the possibilities presented by your new relationship flitting through your mind.


	3. Epilogue - Headcanon

Just a short headcanon I thought of after writing the fics.  I can just see Leonard proudly holding his "World's Best Doctor" mug!

 

  * Leonard is pleased as punch with the gift.  
  

  * He takes it absolutely everywhere with him.  
  

  * He drinks everything out of it, be it coffee, tea, or even water or beer.  
  

  * He proudly shows it off, intentionally facing the words towards anyone nearby as he drinks in a very obvious way.  
  

  * When someone contradicts him in any way related to anything medical, he insists he must be right, because he’s the world’s greatest doctor and has the mug to prove it  
  

  * One of his professors eventually bans open-topped drink containers in the classroom in an effort to prevent him bringing it to class, but he manages to find a secure lid for it  
  

  * He’s the world’s best goddamn doctor, okay?



**Author's Note:**

> Please review/comment if you loved it, or have anything at all to say about it! <3


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